Field Variability Screaming in Your Ear? Precision Soil Sampling is the Answer

Your land is variable. Each fall, you watch the combine yield monitor go up and down across the field. You know where crop yield will be the best in wet years and dry years. So, why do you still use a whole-field composite soil test to manage fertilizer inputs and ignore the obvious field variability […]

Prevented Planting Acres in 2020: Maximizing Cover Crop Effectiveness

In 2020, there are again widespread acres of Prevented Planting (PP) in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Farmers are now making plans to plant cover crops on unplanted cropland in the next few weeks. It is important to establish cover crops on PP fields because growing plants help reduce the chance these fields will be […]

Plant Analysis Sampling Guide

Plant nutrient analysis is a useful management tool. The AGVISE Plant Analysis Sampling Guide discusses the importance of plant analysis in proper crop nutrition and how to collect plant samples. It is important to collect the correct plant part at the correct plant growth stage to ensure accurate interpretation of plant analysis results. To ensure […]

High Soil Nitrogen following Drought: How to manage next year

From time to time, moderate to severe droughts hit the Great Plains. Such is life in semi-arid climates. When a drought occurs, it is normal to find higher residual soil nitrate-nitrogen after harvest. Since the widespread adoption of soil testing in the 1970s, we have seen this phenomenon in all major drought years: 1988, 2002, […]